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Oregon City could become home to World War II PT boat, landing craft

pt 658.jpg

PT 658 was built at the end of World War II and sold as surplus in 1958. Save the PT Boat Inc. acquired the vessel 20 years ago. Volunteers restored the boat to its original operating condition. Even the toaster is correct, said Bob Alton, the groups president.
(Oregon Parks & Recreation)

PT 658 is docked at the Naval Reserve Station on Portland's Swan Island but is under orders to relocate by Sept. 30.

PT boats were popularized in the 1960s by "McHale's Navy," a TV series that put a wacky spin on life in the Pacific Theater, and "PT 109," a 1963 movie that depicted the wartime experience of President John F. Kennedy, who commanded one of the boats.

LCI 713 (Landing Craft Infantry) is one of 951 such vessels built in the latter half of World War II. An LCI could transport as many as 200 soldiers to a beach landing.

LCI 713 was purchased at auction in 1948. It was to have been used to tow log rafts, but that proved impractical. The unused ship sank at its Columbia River moorage. It was refloated for use as a tugboat. That also didn't work out.

Some LCIs were built at two Portland shipyards. LCI 713 was made in Massachusetts, but it has an Oregon connection. It was used in two South Pacific landings, one of which dropped the 41st Infantry -- the Oregon National Guard -- on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines.

The presentation was long on history but short on specifics, such as where the money would come from to build and maintain a moorage.

Nevertheless, commissioners seemed supportive of the concept. Reconnecting the historic downtown with the Willamette River has long been a city goal. City officials view the riverfront as a potential tourist attraction.

Commissioners directed City Manager David Frasher to meet with the organizations to gather more information.

"It's simply an idea at this point," Frasher said. "We're not even sure it's possible."

View full sizeThe Amphibious Forces Memorial Museum rescued LCI 713 and restored it. It is the last operating landing craft of its type and listed on the National Park Service's National Register as a historic vessel.Benjamin Brink / The Oregonian

Commissioner Rocky Smith Jr. noted that two old-fashioned commercial tour boats were interested in making Oregon City their home port, but the city did not have the ability to accommodate them.

"I don't want to keep passing up these opportunities," Smith said. What if Oregon City could accommodate boats that represented various eras, Smith asked. "How incredible would that be?"

Frasher said the city needed to take a broader view of its waterfront, rather than a piecemeal approach. Siting a large moorage is no simple task, Frasher said. It requires the right location, marine engineering, negotiations with state agencies and the Army Corps of Engineers among other things, he said.

In 2005, the city built a 320-foot Willamette River dock to serve anglers and as a place for recreational and tour boats to park. An Oregon State Marine Board grant paid for most of the $480,000 dock.

Around that time, a group of Oregon City residents tried unsuccessfully to draw from Portland the Oregon Maritime Center & Museum and its 219-foot steam-powered sternwheeler, which would have been moored at the dock.